It's been an up-and-down season for Swansea, but they're back up in the top half, thanks to Jonjo Shelvey and a fortunate own goal. They were on top of Fulham throughout their game at Craven Cottage and, though it was tougher than they would have liked, earned a 2-1 win.
Fulham vs. Swansea: Final score 1-2, Jonjo Shelvey wins it for Swans
Could Martin Jol’s time finally be up at Craven Cottage? Fulham suffered another home loss on Saturday, this time to Swansea.
Swansea had all of the possession in the first half and quite a few speculative shots, but very few actual chances. The first thing resembling a chance came in the 25th minute, when Roland Lamah's shot deflected off Aaron Hughes and went just wide. Two minutes before the end of the half, Nathan Dyer nearly scored off a great pass from Alex Pozuelo, but his effort was stopped by Maarten Stekelenburg.
The Swans found their breakthrough in the 56th minute, and it was a gift. Off a cross that came in from the right flank, Hughes made a complete mess of an attempted clearance and deflected the ball into his own goal. It looked like the ball simply hit him, without any serious action on his part, but he was looking at the ball the entire time as it inexplicably bounced off him.
In shocking fashion, Scott Parker pulled Fulham level just eight minutes later. His goal was either the most brilliant or the luckiest of the season, though Parker will certainly never admit it was the latter. Off what might have been a chipped shot, but was probably a botched cross, Parker floated a ball over the head of Michel Vorm that dropped perfectly into the top corner at the far post.
Even if the goal was more skill than luck, Fulham hadn’t done much outside of that opportunity and Swansea’s eventual winner was well-deserved. Shelvey was his team’s hero on the night, scoring with a well placed shot over the hand of Stekelenburg from the top of the box after splitting a pair of defenders.
Fulham: Stekelenburg, Richardson, Hughes, Zverotic, Amorebieta, Kasami, Boateng (Sidwell 60’), Parker (Taarabt 86’), Berbatov, Ruiz (Kacaniklic 77’), Bent
Goals: Parker (64’)
Swansea: Vorm, Chico, Williams, Rangel, Davies, Dyer (Shelvey 59’), Lamah (Tiendalli 86’), De Guzman, Canas, Pozuelo (Vazquez 90’), Bony
Goals: Hughes (OG 56’), Shelvey (80’)
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